Tag: The Beatles

Julien's Auctions revealed on Monday that an electric guitar played by George Harrison on British television prior to the Beatles' "invasion" of the United States will go up for auction along with a rare album cover signed by the Fab Four,

Reuters is reporting that Harrison's black-and-white 1962 Rickenbacker 425 electric guitar is expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000 at an auction on May 16 and 17 at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City.

Harrison, who died in 2001 at age 58, played the guitar on 1963 appearances on British TV shows "Ready Steady Go!" and "Thank Your Lucky Stars" months before the group brought Beatlemania to the United States with a series of performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, launching the British Invasion of rock bands.

The guitarist bought the instrument in 1963 in Mount Vernon, Illinois, while on a trip to visit his sister, according to the Beverly Hills, California, auction house.

The guitar, which Harrison had painted white and black to match John Lennon's Rickenbacker guitar, was also used during the sessions when the band recorded "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy" in October 1963.

Harrison later gave the guitar to friend and musician George Peckham, who played it in an appearance on UK TV show "Top of the Pops" with the band the Fourmost.

Also up for sale is a copy of the album "Beatles '65" signed by Lennon, Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The album is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000 because it was rare for all four members of the group to sign copies of albums after their popularity exploded in the United States in 1964.

A used Hofner bass rented by McCartney in the mid-1960s is expected to sell for $30,000 to $50,000, while a signed cover by the group of the 1963 album "Please Please Me" is expected to bring in between $40,000 and $50,000.

An original artwork by Lennon called "Shroud of Tourin" is estimated to sell for $20,000 to $30,000. The piece of un-stretched canvas, created circa 1966, shows a man who looks like Lennon with a Batman symbol on his chest and words scrawled across it.

The memorabilia will be on display at Hard Rock Café New York from May 12 through May 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET daily. Bidding at the auction can be done in person, or online at julienslive.com

The Grammy Awards will air a two hour special taped the day after the award broadcast commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' landmark performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. 'The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles,' will air on CBS February 9th, 50 years to the day, date and time that the band made their U.S. TV debut on Sullivan's show.

The show will include artists performing the band's best, different presenters, clips from the Sullivan show and other footage. More announcements are expected soon, and hopefully one of them is that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will attend.

The Beatles ‘On Air — Live at the BBC Volume 2,’ was just recently released, and now the band have released a music video for ‘Words of Love.’ It's the first official Beatles video since ‘Real Love’ in 1996.

The track was recorded on July 16, 1963 at the BBC’s Paris Theatre in London and broadcast a month later on the show 'Pop Goes the Beatles.'

The Beatles’ 'On Air - Live at the BBC (Volume 2)' will be released next week (Nov. 11) on iTunes, CD and LP. On Air’s 63 tracks, none of which overlaps with The Beatles’ first BBC release, include 37 previously unreleased performances and 23 previously unreleased recordings of in-studio banter and conversation between the band’s members and their BBC radio hosts.

A version of 'She Loves You' taped for the fifth anniversary of Saturday Club on September 7, 1963 at the BBC Playhouse Theatre, London is now featured in it's entirety for preview at thebeatles.com/onair/ The Beatles’ biggest selling single in Britain spent twelve weeks in the Top Three, including two stints at number one. You can also preview tracks from the album through a custom vintage radio player below.

A customized VOX electric guitar played by both John Lennon and George Harrison sold at auction for $408,000 over the weekend (May 18) at the annual Music Icons auctions held at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City's Times Square. The guitar sold for double the expected amount at

The auction house, Julien's Auctions stated, "The rare offering of a VOX guitar played by both John Lennon and George Harrison is what rock & roll legends are made of. Julien's also noted that the sale offered "collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of the rarest pieces of Beatles memorabilia ever to be offered."

Harrison apparently practiced "I Am The Walrus” on the guitar, with Lennon using it in a video session for the song "Hello, Goodbye." The auction house said the custom guitar was made guitar by Mike Bennett and Dickey Denney, and was given as a gift in 1967 to "Magic Alex" Mardas, who was an engineer at Apple Records and a close friend of the Beatles. The instrument was displayed at a museum in Ireland recently after being sold a few years ago by Christie's Auction House for more than $100,000. Get all the details at: www.billboard.com

U.K. charity War Child turns 20 this year and the organization is marking the occasion by releasing 'War Child 20: The Best Of' as a digital album only on February 18th. The album is a collection of tracks that artists have donated to them over the years. Tracks include a rendition of The Beatles' "Come Together" by Smokin' Mojo Filters, a supergroup featuring McCartney, ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller and former Oasis guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher.

The album also includes the McCartney rarity "Calico Skies", a remix version of the 2002 David Bowie song "Everyone Says Hi", "Miss Sarajevo" by The Passengers, a collaboration between U2 and late opera legend Luciano Pavarotti; and a cover of The Clash's "Straight to Hell" by U.K. pop star Lily Allen with help from Mick Jones.

With all proceeds of the sale coming directly to War Child, the album tracks have been selected to show the diversity and quality of all the artists who have supported the cause for the last two decades.

War Child also also offering a free download from Muse performing a rendition of The Animals' hit "House of the Rising Sun" that blends into their own song "Time Is Running Out." http://muse.warchild.org.uk/